Ambarella Introduces Third-Generation SoC for HD Camcorders With Progressive Video

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--Ambarella, Inc., the leader in low-power, high-definition video
compression and image processing semiconductors, today announced its
third-generation low-power A3 System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The A3 is
targeted at high-definition (HD) camcorders using H.264/AVC
compression technology. The SoC comes in two versions: the A350
supporting the 1080i 60 interlaced HD standard; and the A380
supporting the emerging 1080p60 progressive video format.

HD Camcorder SoC and Progressive Format

The A3 HD system-on-chip (SoC) enables the development of full
high-resolution camcorders at the highest image quality with smooth 60
frames/second video. Ambarella's A3 is the first single-chip H.264
codec capable of encoding full 1080p60 at 1920 pixels per line
resolution. In addition, A3 integrates a high-performance image
processing pipeline with high speed signal acquisition, still image
compression, audio compression and all key system functions. The
Ambarella A3 platform has low operating power and increased system
integration that makes the high-definition experience a reality for
mainstream consumers.

The A3 platform is based on the H.264/AVC video compression
standard, which is the next generation of video compression
technology. Ambarella's patent-pending platform delivers a 2.5x
compression gain over current MPEG-2/4 solutions, providing the
efficiency required to store HD video content in convenient
flash-based memory, hard disk drive or recordable DVD. The Ambarella
platform programmability enables implementation of multiple formats
for HD Video such as the AVCHD specification for 1080i HD camcorders
as well as many formats commonly used on PC platforms.

1080i and 1080p60

In a recent survey more than 90 percent of the TVs sold in Japan,
88 percent of the TVs sold in the EU, and 76 percent of the TVs sold
in North America were flat progressive TVs. All of these displays are
progressive in nature with a refresh rate at 50 Hz (EU) or 60Hz (North
America and Japan). Among these TVs, the large majority of the devices
with screens larger than 36 inches have a "full HD" configuration and
can display a raster of 1920x1080. The 1080p60 standard has become the
de facto HD display format. Because the CMOS sensors used in HD
camcorder are also progressive devices it is only natural that
camcorders adopt the same format as sensors and TVs.

The advantage of progressive formats are evident in three
different aspects: 1) twice the resolution i.e. more details; 2) lack
of motion induced interlaced artifacts, particular noticeable on a
large TV; and, 3) ease of editing since video editors would rather
avoid the field/frame distinction where two half of a full frame are
acquired at different instants in time.

While a progressive 60p format has twice the data rate (about
3Gbps) of the equivalent interlaced video, the signal exhibit much
stronger vertical correlation and as such compresses more easily to
about 1.2 time more bits that the progressive one. This means that
twice the vertical resolution can be obtained for only a small 20%
additional bandwidth or storage capacity. The A380 SoC allows
consumers to record as much as one hour of 1080p60 video on a 4GB
flash card.

Because of the dominance of television sets capable of 1920x1980
60p, the industry has adopted an interface (and a connector) HDMI
which supports 1080p 60. This allows DVD players, Cable/Satellite
set-top boxes and now camcorders to deliver data at the full
resolution of the TV. Ambarella's A3 platform has a built-in HDMI
interface, including support for 1080p60 signals.

Motion Compensated 3D Noise Reduction: a Novel Approach

Depending on the amount of light available, imaging sensors have a
substantial amount of noise, so filtering this noise is a very
important task. The challenge of a full resolution HD camcorder is to
reduce the noise without causing a loss of resolution or a loss of
detail and spatiotemporal (3D) filters must be used. Most of the
solutions available are motion adaptive and switch from a
predominantly temporal to a predominantly spatial filter based on
detecting the presence of motion. Ambarella's A3 solution is motion
compensated instead of just motion adaptive and truly tracks the
motion and uses motion compensation in the filter.

"The combination of a high performance image pipeline, motion
compensated 3D noise reduction and a 1080p60 H.264 AVC codec allows us
to redefine the HD camcorder," said Dr. Fermi Wang, Ambarella CEO.
"The A3 platform is a key component in our product strategy."

Pricing and Availability

The Ambarella A3 platform is a solution supporting both the 1080i
format (A350) and 1080p (A380) as well as hybrid cameras. The A3
platform is available in multiple configurations for differing
requirements. Evaluation kits are available and pricing information
can be obtained from Ambarella.

The URL for this release is:
http://www.ambarella.com/news/press_releases/.

About Ambarella

Ambarella is the technology leader in low-power, high-definition
video compression and image processing semiconductors. Ambarella
products are helping to define a new class of hybrid digital cameras
that bring consumers unmatched high definition video and digital still
images together in one device. Many cameras and camcorders have been
shipping using Ambarella A2 SOC. For more information on the Ambarella
product line, please visit http://www.ambarella.com.

Ambarella, Inc.

2975 San Ysidro Way

Santa Clara, CA 95051

T: 1 408 734 8888

F: 1 408 734 0788

http://www.ambarella.com

Ambarella
Didier LeGall, 1-408-400-1427
dlegall@ambarella.com
or
Maestro Marketing & PR
Barbara Kalkis, 1-408-996-9975
kkalkis@compuserve.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008